Against all Odds
by Allanna Stone
Summary: Erik's has an adopted son. Raoul and Christine have a daughter. What happens when they meet? (Inspiration for this story comes from Kaen Okami's Tenebris Lux.)
1. Chapter 1

**Against all Odds**

**I do not own **_**Phantom of the Opera**_** or any of the songs used for y'all entertainment.**

**SUMMARY:**

**Erik's has an adopted son. Raoul and Christine have a daughter. What happens when they meet? ****(Inspiration for this story comes from ****Kaen Okami****'s**_**Tenebris**__**Lux**_**.****)**

Christine de Changy~ Katherine Jenkins

Raoul de Changy~ Hadley Frasier

Erik~ Ramin Karimloo

Luc~ Nick Jonas

Bernadette "Bebe" de Changy~ Viktorya Roze Tassi

Meg Roux~ Daisy Maywood

Eugenie Roux~ Isabelle Allen

Carlotta Giudicelli~ Minnie Driver

Antonio Giudicelli~ Hayden Christensen

Monsieur Marius Enjolras~ Antonio Banderas


	2. Chapter 2

**Against all Odds**

**I do not own **_**Phantom of the Opera**_** or any of the songs used for y'all entertainment.**

**SUMMARY:**

**Erik's has an adopted son. Raoul and Christine have a daughter. What happens when they meet? ****(Inspiration for this story comes from ****Kaen Okami****'s**_**Tenebris**__**Lux**_**.****)**

**A NOTE FROM THE AUTHORESS:**

**I received PMs and reviews asking who Viktorya Roze Tassi is.**

**Well…**

**She's my cousin, most formally known as "Angel Rose". She read Kaen Okami's **_**Tenebris Lux**_** over my shoulder last night and she told me that I should write my own version of the story, so here I am!**

**I am debating if I should leave a tibit of information about her at the end of each chapter. What does y'all think?**

Erik sighed heavily as he stared at the ruin of what was once his opera house. Oh how he wanted to reverse time as looked back on that dreadful night six years ago!

He looked out the grimy window when he heard shouts.

_It had better not be those ruffians who keep trying to vandalize my opera house_, he grumbled, wiping the glass with his sleeve to peer out into the dimly lit streets of Paris.

Following the shouts and cruel laughter, he opened the window so that he could see what the commotion was about. He saw a group of eight young men, ranging from eighteen to twenty years old, who were surrounding a small figure, reminding Erik of a pack of hunting dogs. They laughed coldly as they beat their victim with their booted feet, making the little child cry out in pain. Erik had not left the opera house since the fire, and he decided to teach the bullies a lesson. Looking back years later, he wondered what had made him leave his sanctuary of the opera house, why he had gone outside to help the defenseless child.

One minute he was at the window, the next minute, the bullies were running off, screaming about the opera ghost coming back to haunt them.

Erik turned his attention to the child, who wore a cloth feed bag over his face. A memory of him when he was imprisoned in a cage for the gypsy's amusement flashed in his mind and he winced at the pain that he still remembered from their ruthless beatings. He reached out to touch the little boy's shoulder and the child flinched back, afraid of being hit again.

"I'm not going to hurt you," soothed Erik softly, repeating the words over and over again in a soft tone of voice. Finally, the boy looked up at him, fear and distrust in his eyes.

"What is your name?" Erik asked gently.

"L-l-l-luc," he muttered, hiding his brilliant green eyes that reminded the opera ghost of his own eyes.

"Did they hurt you?" Erik asked him gently.

Luc paused before shrugging his shoulders.

The two took in each other's appearances. Erik was a well build man in his late thirties, with black hair that he had slicked back, green eyes, and pale skin. He wore a nice suit black trousers, leather boots, a waist coat, a purple vest over a cream shirt, and a red cravet. Over the right side of his face was a porcelain mask, which his hid disfiguration and only showed the beauty of his left side. He wore a black cape for more for dramatics than for warmth, it was more habit than necessity

Luc was dressed in ragged trousers and shirt that looked ready to fall aprt at any moment. He was barefoot, and shivering from the cold November air. Aside from the feed bag that he wore like a mask, he looked like a handsome lad.

"Come on, let's go inside, where it's warmer," offered Erik, shedding his cape and draping it around the shivering boy before scooping him into his arms and marching inside the opera house.

"Who are you?" squeaked Luc in fear as Erik went into one of his secret passages that led to box five.

Erik paused, not wanting to frighten the child any more than he was. Finally, he decided to take his chances and tell the truth.

"Have you ever heard of the phantom of the opera?" he asked causally, as though he were asking what the weather was like.

To his shock (and somewhat joy), Luc gasped in surprise. "Yes I have!" he said happily. His shivering had almost completely stopped, leaving the little boy free to snuggle more into Erik's warmth. "You're the phantom? And this is your opera house?"

Erik was baffled. "Yes to both questions, but why are you so happy to hear my confession, after what everyone says about me?"

"Because when I was younger, I heard someone say that you make beautiful music and I love music!" Luc exclaimed in delight.

"You aren't afraid of me?" asked Erik incredulously.

"Well… I'm a little afraid. But… after hearing people talk about you, I thought that you might take me in. Because I knew that we were alike in some ways."

_I am beginning to think that is true_, thought Erik. They reached box five at that point, and Erik settled Luc onto his throne like seat before perching himself onto the railing. He found himself examining Luc more closely, taking in all his scars on his arms, chest and legs. A tuff of black curls peeked out from several holes in his mask (if it could even be called that.)

Luc didn't notice Erik was looking at him- his attention was on the opera house, which was stunning before the fire had devoured that beauty.

"What happened?" whispered the boy, as though he would waken the ghosts that supposedly haunted the opera house.

"There was a fire many years ago," answered Erik, deciding not to go into the full story.

"A fire?" asked Luc, suddenly terrified. Erik panicked- did he say something wrong.

"Yes, it destroyed everything," answered Erik slowly. He hadn't heard fear in Luc's voice, only shock. Perhaps it had brought up an unpleasant memory?

"Everyone abandoned my opera house when it was destroyed," he finished.

"Why are you still hear?" he asked in a squeaky voice.

"Because I live here and I have nowhere else to go," answered Erik.

"You … live here? Under the opera house? Like everyone says?"

"Indeed. There are underground tunnels that I can travel through to get from one part of the opera house to the other in a timely manner," chuckled Erik, amused by Luc's excitement.

"Amazing…" breathed Luc.

"By the way, Luc, how old are you?" asked Erik.

"Six… I think…"

_Anne Giry found me when I was six years old. Just how many things do this boy and I have to share in common?_

Erik decided that he wanted to see how much that he and Luc had in common.

"Luc…" he began. "Can you show me why you wear a mask?"

That simple little question bought a reaction out of the child. Luc drew back from Erik's shadow and began to tremble, his hands clutching the feed bag mask so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"My-m-m-my face…" he muttered, rocking back and forth. "It's evil, it's that of the devil. It makes me a beast- I shouldn't be living because of it. They told me so!" Luc broke off mid rant in a strangled sob.

Erik understood Luc, remembering the vile words that people would shout at him from outside the cage when he was a young child. He felt the urge to comfort the boy. He placed his hands onto his shoulders and made soothing sounds. "I don't believe you are," he whispered softly to Luc.

"You don't know what I am," muttered Luc, turning away from Erik. The mask covering his face was a sore subject for Luc, just as it was with Erik.

"I have a good idea of what had happened to you, Luc," Erik informed him. The boy didn't answer. "But so that I can be certain…" He knew that he had to ask Luc to do something very difficult, with the life that Erik suspected that he had led.

"Please take off your mask, Luc. Show me your face."

"No!" cried Luc, panic in his voice. "No… everyone who sees my face… hurts me… i… it's only been pain… all my life… nothing else…. Everybody's the same…. All of them! They all hurt me… because of my face…" Luc paused for a moment before bursting into tears, sobs wracking his tiny body. "My mother- may she rot in hell- said that it was only normal for people to treat me with hate… all because of my face!" As he said these last words, a snarl came into his voice.

Erik stepped forwards and knelt in front of Luc, thinking that they had both hated their mothers with a fiery passion that burned deep inside of them.

"Your mother said that it's okay for people to mistreat you because of your face?" asked Erik, frowning when Luc nodded. "Well, let me show you something, Luc." He removed his mask, resulting in a soft gasp from Luc. "I'm just like you."

Erik's face was badly deformed, with a lumpy texture that went from his forehead to his chin. His left eyelid drooped, making his eye seem like it was closed. His lips was left untouched, his eyelashes were missing, and his cheek was sunken it, giving that side of his face a skull-like appearance.

"Like I said before, Luc, you have nothing to fear from me," he assured the little boy, who was looking at the phantom's face. "You can trust me, Luc."

Luc still looked unsure, but he slowly reached up and gently tugged the feed sack off his head, his eyes shut tightly, as though he was expecting for Erik to beat him.

_I was right_, though Erik. _We are alike._

One side of Luc's face was twisted and deformed, just like Erik's, and the phantom could see the signs of ugly abuse marking his face. Luc was cursed with the same deformity as him, but to Erik, it looked even more terrible on the face of a young child; vulnerable, shunned, frightened, alone.

Luc was trembling so hard that Erik's coat had fallen off his thin shoulders and had had fallen around the boy's feet. His eyes were still squeezed shut and whimpers were escaping his lips.

"Luc?" Erik called out softly. Luc cracked open an eye before notincing tha Erik hadn't hit him. He slowly opened the other eye and looked at him with fear in his gaze. The child was scared and confused as to why Erik was showing him compassion, and not beating him senseless.

"You don't hate me now?" squeaked Luc.

"I promised you that I would never harm you, and when I make a promise, I never break it," he said honestly. Luc's face brightened before he jumped into the phantom's arms and hugged him as tightly as he could, in his weakened state from not having any food for who-knows-how-long. "You're safe from harm, Luc- I will never let anyone harm you ever again."

"I can't believe this," Luc murmured, his face crushed into the phantom's shoulder. "I never met anyone like me before!"

"Neither have I," grunted Erik, surprised by Luc's embrace. He awkwardly placed his arms around the child as he stood up with Luc in his arms. "I thought I was the only one with this deformedly. I had dreamed of meeting someone with my face, but had never thought it to be possible…"

But at this point, Luc had fallen asleep, so Erik carried the exhausted child to the underground world of his domain.


	3. Chapter 3

**Against all Odds**

**I do not own **_**Phantom of the Opera**_** or any of the songs used for y'all entertainment.**

**SUMMARY:**

**Erik's has an adopted son. Raoul and Christine have a daughter. What happens when they meet? ****(Inspiration for this story comes from Kaen Okami's**_**Tenebris**__**Lux**_**.****)**

**A FACT ABOUT VIKTORYA ROZE:**

**She was my beta reader once upon a time.**

_**TWO YEARS LATER…**_

Bernadette "Bebe" de Changy frowned as she entered the opera house for the first time in her life. Finally, she was old enough to be trained as a ballerina! The seven year old girl hid behind her mother's skirts as the vicomtess swept through the hallway, went up two flights of stairs and finally came to an office. She knocked before the door was flung open to reveal a pretty blond who was the vicomtess's age.

"Christine!" squealed the new ballet mistress, hugging her friend tightly around the waist before remembering her manners. "Come in, please!" The tiny boned ballet mistress fluttered about, pouring tea for her guests before folding herself into a chair that sat behind a large ornate desk. "So this is Bernadette?" she asked kindly, smiling at the child who was sitting in her mother's lap. Bebe, as she was affectionately called, buried her head into her mother's shoulder.

"She is terribly shy," explained Christine softly before brushing her daughter's dark red curls from her sapphire blue eyes. "Bebe, love, can you please stand so that Madame Roux can look at you?"

Bernadette slowly got off her mother's lap before standing up tall and looking at the wall behind Madame Roux. Bebe was a cute child, with a slender build, fair skin and a doll like face. She wore a white pinafore dress, white stockings and white leather slippers. She was petite, even at age seven, the top of her head just reaching her mother's shoulders when the vicomtess was sitting. It was clear that when she grew up, she would be a beauty, just like her mother.

Bebe squeaked nervously as she grasped her mother's hand for dear life. Madame Roux knelt so that she was at eye level with her newest student and took her foot into her slender hands. The ballet mistress removed her student's shoe before flexing Bebe's foot to a point, then into an arch.

Madame Roux did this for a minute before turning to the vicomtess.

"Her feet show nice form- I do believe that she will make an excellent dancer," praised Madame Roux, taking little Bernadette's hands into her own and squeezing them lightly. "Would you like a tour, Christine? Bernadette?"

"I would love to see what has changed since I was here- goodness, eight years ago?- but I'm afraid that I cannot stay for very long. Raoul and I have some pressing matters that we must attend to," explained the vicomtess with a smile.

Bernadette broke away from Madame Roux and ran to her mother, hugging her knees.

"Please don't leave me, mama," she whimpered softly, tears leaking from her eyes as she buried her face into her mother's skirt.

"Oh, Bernadette!" Christine knelt so that she was at eye level with her only child. "Chin up, love. I'll come visit you at least once a week, remember? And I'll write you letters- so many letters that you won't know what to do with them all!" The little girl sniffled as her mother gently pried her arms from around her legs and kissed her forehead.

And then, just like that, Christine was gone, leaving her daughter to an unknown fate.

Meg Roux looked at the sobbing little girl before sighing heavily as she knelt next to Bernadette.

"Bernadette," she began in a soft voice. "Don't cry- when your mother makes a promise, she always keeps it, no matter what." Bernadette looked up at the married ballet mistress with eyes full of tears. "Besides, your mother and I became friends when we were younger, in fact we were about your age when we were first introduced to each other!" The cheerful blonde beamed at Bernadette, who had stopped crying and was now reduced to sniffles.

Bernadette looked at Madame Roux before smiling for the first time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Against all Odds**

**I do not own **_**Phantom of the Opera**_** or any of the songs used for y'all entertainment.**

**SUMMARY:**

**Erik's has an adopted son. Raoul and Christine have a daughter. What happens when they meet? ****(Inspiration for this story comes from Kaen Okami's**_**Tenebris**__**Lux**_**.****)**

**A FACT ABOUT VIKTORYA ROZE:**

**She came up with the cast list on chapter 1.**

Erik watched as Christine got into the carriage before it took off. He scowled as he thought of the crying child who was now in Madame Roux's capable hands. He knew that when he cared for Luc, he made sure that his adopted son was happy and occupied before taking car eof himself. Erik knew that Luc had changed him for the better; he had started performing more playful, harmless pranks on the ballet rats,

Like for example, leaving roses for them after each show. That had really frightened them, until he made Luc appear only for a moment. The ballet girl who had spotted him, told everyone that the phantom had an apperantance and that the newest phantom must've been the one to leave the girls the flowers. They all begun to call Luc "the gentleman phantom", for he was always polite and left each of the ballet girls a rose after each show. There was also a time when one of the newest girls got lost, so he guided her back to her dorms by using his newly acquired ventriloquism skills.

Erik didn't mind leaving Luc to deal with the ballet rats- he had more pressing matters to attend to.

The opera house had gained a new owner- a Monsieur Marius Enjolras. He had a long resume of acting and opera jobs, and so, in his mid to late forties, had decied to restore the famous Opera Populaire to its former glory. To Erik's joys, he supplied him with the requested 20,000 franks and box five, also taking his suggestions for who to use in what operas.

Erik found himself scowling as he watched the newest addition to the ballet rats- Bernadette de Changy. She was following behind Madame Roux with a sadness in her step. Erik had helped little Meg Giry, even when she had married, rise to her mother's spot as ballet misteress, may God watch over her soul.

Erik hadn't spoken directly to the new ballet mistress, but he knew her to be a loyal woman, one who would deliver his messages to the right person. He couldn't help but wonder if he should reveal himself to her…

Suddenly, a small group of about eight ballet girls, ranging from ages six to twelve, barreled from around the corner and almost collided to Madame Roux. They all apologized, telling her that they wanted to go to town to look around.

"Very well then, ladies. Let me get Bernadette settled in, then we all shall go to town," Madame Roux finalized, "Go and grab you coats and change out of your dancing shoes!" The herd of giggling girls scampered away to do as they were bid, giggling and chattering as they went to their rooms.

"This is to be your room, Bernadette. You are to share it with three other girls," explained Madame Roux, pushing open a door and motioning for Bernadette to enter. She stood awkwardly as Madame Roux showed her which bed was hers, where she could put her clothes away and where the washroom was located. After that was done, the motherly ballet mistress asked little Bernadette if she wanted to go into town as well, but was met with silence. Madame Roux took that to be a yes and bustled about, unpacking the child's tunk in search of a proper jacket and muff.

Erik was atounded at how much fine clothes the young child had- coats trimmed with fur, silk and velvet dresses, leather boots… the list went on and on and Erik knew that Bernadette was partly spoiled.

After Madame Roux had bundled up the girl, she led her out to the main hallway, where the group of girls were bouncing on their heels, waiting for the ballet mistress.

And that was the first time that Erik met Bernadette de Changy.


	5. Chapter 5

**Against all Odds**

**I do not own **_**Phantom of the Opera**_** or any of the songs used for y'all entertainment.**

**SUMMARY:**

**Erik's has an adopted son. Raoul and Christine have a daughter. What happens when they meet? ****(Inspiration for this story comes from Kaen Okami's**_**Tenebris**__**Lux**_**.****)**

**A FACT ABOUT VIKTORYA ROZE:**

**She is a four and a half octave range mezzo-soprano/ dramatic soprano crossover belter.**

_**SIX YEARS LATER…**_

Bernadette sniffled as Madame Roux led the way to the practice for the newest opera, (Little Red Riding Hood). The fourteen year old girl had relieved news that her parents had gone to Greece for a vacation. Oh, how Bernadette wished she could've gone with them! But no- she was trapped here in this forsaken opera house, a prisoner.

Bernadette scowled as she was pushed forwards into the practice room by the group of blonde, willowy dancers. The petite dark hair girl slipped out of the mirror lined room a few minutes after, once she was certain she wouldn't be missed.

The beautiful child stepped down the halls silently as she crumpered her mother's letter in her tiny fist.

_My dearest Bernadette;_

_I do hope this letter finds you well. You father and I have gone to Greece for a few weeks to recover from the social season. You do remember how much your father hated those parties…_

_I have heard nothing but praises from Madame Roux on your progress as adnacer at the opera house. You do remember those stories that I would tell you? The ones of when I was a chorus girl at the opera house? That is where your father and I met._

The rest of the letter was tattered and runny, due from Bernadette's tears. Oh, how she hated it at the opera house! The other girls tormented her on a daily basis, telling her that she wasn't good enough, that her parents didn't love her, that she would be an orphan one day…

Bernadette finally reached the small chapel where she would always go to think. She grabbed her journal and inkwell from where she had hidden them and positioned herself on one of the pews.

_**Once upon another time, in a world not like this, lived a young maiden.**_

_**Her name was Arya and she was the mix blood princess of the realms and the keeper of the **__**Ixim, a sacred codex that was used to cast magical spells and brew potions.**_

_**Now Arya was skilled in a number of things, including weaponry, horseback riding, and hand to hand combat. She would often sneak out of the castle, accompanied by her faithful servant, Charresh, who had been Arya's close friend since childhood… **_

~xXx~

Luc smiled slyly as he made his way through the secret passageways of the opera house. His father had taught him well in the art of acting as the opera ghost.

He paused when he came to the little chapel that he liked to occuy and frowned when he realized that someone was inside. The fifteen year old phantom scowled as he peered through the one way window.

And he was rendered speechless at the girl who was lying sprawled on a pew before him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Against all Odds**

**I do not own **_**Phantom of the Opera**_** or any of the songs used for y'all entertainment.**

**SUMMARY:**

**Erik's has an adopted son. Raoul and Christine have a daughter. What happens when they meet? ****(Inspiration for this story comes from Kaen Okami's**_**Tenebris**__**Lux**_**.****)**

**A FACT ABOUT VIKTORYA ROZE:**

**She is a four and a half octave range mezzo-soprano/ dramatic soprano crossover belter.**

**A NOTE FROM THE AUTHORESS:**

**Torya wanted for me to make a slight change to the cast list, so I did it. Go back and look it over if you would like.**

_**SIX YEARS LATER…**_

Luc stared at Bernadette in wonder. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen in his life. She had long dark blonde curly hair that she wore loose, dark blue eyes that were focused on her journal and a petite, slender body from dancing for so many years.

Bernadette.

He remembered hearing her name. She was the daughter of the Vicomt and his wife, the opera star, Christine Daae.

Just as he was going to introduce himself to the stunning creature, the loud pitter patter of feet announced the arrival of Madame Roux's ten year old daughter, Eugenie. The energetic girl bounced up to Bernadette and tugged at her hands. The older girl smiled down at the mute little child before following her out of the chapel, forgetting her journal in all the excitement.

Luc made his move.

He grabbed the leather bound book and retreated back into the shadows, clutching the book close to his chest. He thought for a moment before turning towards the passages that led to the ballet ladies' dorms. (Luc was too much of a gentleman to referrer to the dancers as rats, as Erik did.)

~oOo~

Bernadette searched the chapel for her journal with a burning rage. "If one of those snotty ballet pigs took my journal, then they will find something gross in their beds!" she muttered crossly, stomping her foot in anger.

Luc watched all this with an amused air. He let out a soft chuckle, but Bernadette heard him.

"Who's there?" she snarled, balling her fists as she stared at the two way mirror/ wall where Luc was hiding. The phantom-in-training clasped a hand over his mouth, but the damage was already done. "Do you know which pig took my journal?"

"I did; it's on your bed," answered Luc.

"If you're lying-" hissed Bernadette.

"Which I'm not," he muttered.

"- then I shall hunt you down, skin you, burn you to a crisp, and chase you to wence the hellhound of the devil come from!" And with that, she spun around, leaving her threat hanging in the air.

Bernadette entered her dorm that she shared with Eugenie and spied her journal on the bed. Next to it, was a thorn less red rose wrapped with a black satin ribbon.

Bernadette gulped.

She had threatened the phantom of the opera.


End file.
